Half blood princes
by Martha van Vires
Summary: Rewritten and changed. A young girl, who just so happens to be a part of a Wizarding Royal House, transfers to Hogwarts. It's the price she pays for her dreams. Will she get more than she bargained for?
1. Never Ending Circle

**Hey, to you all. This is a new version of my old story. I plan on making it better. Hope you like it. If you have any suggestions, any advice etc. feel free to leave a message. If you have any ideas on what you'd like to happen with the story, give me a hint. You never know I just might include your bit in the plot. R&R and just have fun. ^-^ - Martha**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter nor any other character created by J. K. Rowling.

The horse carried it's mistress through green fields and pastures, passing forests and rivers. Both the rider and the animal moved as one becoming almost a blurred point of black upon the sunny landscape. She could feel the pull of the land. It's power recognizing her own and fueling it. She was embraced by it as if a cocoon of warmth closed around her. She heard the beat of the land like that of a big heart. It was an ever present noise in the background that she only allowed herself to hear on rare occasions. Now was such an occasion. She was saying goodbye.

She recalled the previous day with a hint of sadness, but it was overpowered by the sense of joy and purpose. Not only could she finally prove her worth in the court, she would realize her biggest wish on the way as well.

Her horse run into the cool water of the river spraying her face with it. She forced it to a stop and dismounted onto the bank. She realized the kelpie from her charm and the horse disappeared into the shallow waters with a neigh of indignation. She sighed and stretched on the grass. Her eyes closed. She could smell the freshly cut hay and the small flowers in the field close by. She could feel a small breeze coming from the stream. The sun fell on her face warming her. Birds sung and cicadas played their song. She would miss it all terribly, she was sure.

She relaxed and opened her mind and soul. Waves of warm energy flooded her senses. She welcomed it, knowing that she won't feel the supportive power of her homeland ever again. She mourned it in her heart. Tears fell into the grass beneath her. The force she was united with sensed the change, she heard a rustle and saw two small foxes running straight for her. They cuddled by her sides giving small whines. She laughed merrily and scratched them behind the ears. They barked and cuddled closer. She would miss the way even nature wanted to comfort her when she was sad. She would miss how the bird sung when she was happy. She would even miss the heavy thunders that signaled her anger.

She must have fallen asleep because when she woke the foxes were gone and the sky was painted violet. She rubbed at her eyes and stood. She stretched her hand towards the river and concentrated. The ever present force around was only too happy to support her energy as she sent it towards the now dark water. She saw the horse that carried her before and pulled. A high neigh flew through the evening air as a dark shape emerged from the waves and kicked angrily at the air.

Kelpies were extremely proud. They hated when she used them as steeds. But they were obedient enough under the pressure of her magic. The water demon kneeled in front of her offering her his back. She climbed atop it, holding tight. It stomped angrily for a moment only to run towards the narrow road around the field, leaving wet hove traces in the dirt. It galloped towards the castle looming on the horizon.

She had a rather long journey home ahead of her, and even though Kelpies could gallop for hours and never tire, it would still take a while. She remembered the satisfied smirk on her father's face when she agreed to his plan. She could see the cruel glint in his eyes.

It was just short before noon when her brother burst into her room announcing with an unreadable face that father wished to see her. She was surprised, because he never talked to her, unless some court function put him in a position, in which he had to play a doting father to his children.

She hurried along the corridors, because it was never wise to keep His Majesty waiting. She dared not invoke his anger. The heavy doors to the throne room easily gave way to her magic, letting her pass. She could see the throne at the end of the long alley. She strode ahead not paying much notice to the constellations entrapped in the darkness around her. The stars being born in great explosions and dying in magnificent supernovas. She had her eyes trained on the man sitting in the throne.

Her father was a powerful man. A king to a powerful kingdom. Their land lay high in the Carpathian mountains, It was a harsh environment that made the people tough and strong. The circumstances made them also not very trusting, so whenever a foreign wizard or muggle chanced among them it wasn't a warm welcome he received. They were suspicious but also cautious by nature. As for how the local population hid their magic from the muggles, they didn't. Muggles in their land knew all about magic, and the government saw nothing wrong with it. In fact there were laws against harming or manipulating a muggle. The muggles themselves knew what would happen to them if they ever brought attention to the wizards and witches of the land and kept quiet. The foreigners simply thought them superstitious.

She walked along the marble floor fearing the conversation more and more with every step she took towards her father.

'Come, daughter of mine, don't stand there in the dark.'

She gasped in surprise. He addressed her as his daughter in front of the few nobles allowed around his throne. She stood in the circle of warm light cast by the candles.

She bowed.

'Your Majesty, you called for me?'

'Why else would you be here?' He laughed, and a shiver went down her spine. She was even more afraid now.

'What is it you wish of me My Lord?'She could not help the tremble in her voice.

'Come now, am I not allowed to simply desire to see my daughter? My smartest and most adept daughter?' One of the nobles laughed, and the rest followed his example. Their laughter echoed through the room.

'Silence!' The sound died on their lips, leaving them pale and frightened.

'Out!'The king ordered and the nobles scurried away toward the door in a hurry. Before the heavy doors closed behind the last of them she was already terrified.

'Rise your head' She straightened her back but kept her eyes trained on the floor.

He rose from the throne and came close. He came behind her 'Look at the throne' his whisper left goose bumps on the back of her neck. She raised her eyes and regarded the massive ash tree armchair, with a grand snake eating it own tail, engraved onto its back. The Uroboros. The One that is All. The symbol of the king of their land. The continuity of the dynasty. The mark she carried on her back.

'My throne. I fought for it, and won. Now I will leave it to a child of mine. To my son.' She shivered at the coldness that filled his voice.

'Yet you are the one who carries The Mark. You were chosen by the Goddess to rule one day. And I will not allow it.' Dread swarmed into her soul. His threats were never idle.

'Am I to die then.' She would not show fear. Fear was weakness and she was strong.

He laughed. She spun around and faced him with her head raised high. She was his daughter, even if she was just a royal bastard. She was calm. He sobered instantly.

'you are indeed my child. You show courage and strength where your siblings are weak and fearful. You are smart and you value your education where they disregard it as foolish and useless. A Pity you don't look like your mother, you'd make a perfekt daughter for me then. She was a beauty, and you're simply plain. But I admire something else in you as well. Your power.' He walked past her and sat in his throne.

'you are too precious to be killed' his face was a mask of indifference.

'you're a royal child after all. You have a choice. Either be stripped of your power so that Kain may rule or leave.'

He sat then waiting, like a vulture waiting for a lamb to die so it could feast on its carcass.

'leave, My Lord?' her voice was barely a whisper.

'yes. You will be sent to a boarding school until your brother is of age and ascends the throne. After that you are welcome to return. You will no longer be a threat.'

He said it in almost a bored tone.

'you will, of course, be provided for. I'll assign you some company so you do not suffer your exile alone.'

She looked him in the eye seeing the cruelty deep inside him. She knew he didn't care for her. He never did, why would he start now. She should be grateful he didn't kill her on the spot. Could she leave though? Could she forsake her powers if she didn't? She stood there motionless and silent, deep in thought.

'Would it help if offered you an apprenticeship with The Knowing after your return?'

Her eyes shot up looking at him in shock. It must be really important if he offered her, her dream on a golden platter, so to speak.

She knew she would never get another chance like this. She would never be let into apprenticeship another way, not when she was his bastard.

'When do I leave?' Those four whispered words put a big satisfied smirk on his face.

'I knew you would like my offer. You have two weeks to prepare. Take whatever you would find helpful or necessary. Say your goodbyes.'

She bowed and waited.

'you may leave for now. I shall summon you when I find a suitable companion for you.' And he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. She turned and almost run out of the throne room and back to the library, accompanied by curious glances of the nobles waiting behind the door.

She was forced out of her memories by the Kelpie who came to a stop in front of the fountain in the palace courtyard. The night was almost upon them. She heard the laud song of the cicadas. She was leaving in two days. She released the Kelpie and went for the door.

'Catharina!' She turned to see a face she never again expected to see.


	2. Suprise

A warm body collided with her own and all breath was knocked out of her lungs. A pair of arms encircled her neck with such force she could not even think of inhaling. And the noise that accompanied it all rendered her incapable of proper thought.

'can't…breath…' she managed to choke out.

The stunned silence that followed, allowed her to estimate the damage received in the attack. She was certainly bruised, most likely had a broken rib or two. The release was as sudden as the attack and for a moment she was sure to fall, but the support offered by a nearby coffee table remedied the situation. She looked at her a bit concerned but definitely happy cousin.

'Camilla' she wheezed out. Hearing her own voice she cringed and massaged her throat, coughing a little.

'I'm so happy! I thought I would never see you again. I'm glad your father chose to forget the awful accident. But let's not talk about it. I'm going with you! Can you believe it? We'll be attending the same school and we'll live in the same dorm. maybe we'll even have the same room'

Catharina chose too space out then, because she knew her cousin's rants a bit too well. She could go on for hours about how she'll decorate their bedroom and what she will do to her hair and all that rubbish.

But that her father would choose someone she actually liked, to go with her. He must be desperate to keep her away. She smiled politely at Camilla.

'Let's have tea, shall we?' Camilla squeaked happily.

'Of course. You just got back from your ride, you're probably tired. Come on we'll ring for some tea and biscuits.' And she dragged Catharina with her.

Catharina always liked her room. It wasn't too big and it was warm. She had a huge bed by the windows and a nice comfy sofa by the fireplace. She liked it here but still preferred the library.

Camilla didn't wait for an invitation, barging in and making herself comfortable. Catharina sighed and thought that she had to get used to it. She put her riding jacket on a chair and pulled off her boots.

She was almost packed. She knew the Domovoy helped. Her things were sorted and in order. Her clothes, even the dirty ones she left on her bed this morning where now clean and pressed. And no maid ever came into her room, they were too afraid.

'Uncle Domovoy' She spoke to the air. 'Would you be as kind as to send us some tea? With cookies if you will' And almost instantly a tray appeared on the tea table. Camilla whistled.

'Wow, your Domovoy must really like you. Ours only ever tends the horses. Papa was thinking of replacing him with one of the house elves that are so popular in the west.' She said as she put cake on her plate. Catharina poured them some tea.

'I'm guessing your ready for our journey' She asked her cousin. Camilla wiped her mouth.

'Yes. His Majesty contacted my father a week ago. You can't even imagine how ecstatic father was. I as well, of course.' She smiled ad her.

The young witch returned the smile. 'I'm happy it's you he chose. I was afraid he'd make cousin Judith to come with me. And we both know how nice cousin Judith can be.' Camilla laughed merrily.

'Yes, she's absolutely delightful, our cousin Judith.'

They talked and talked well into the night. Camilla left for her bedroom somewhere close to done. Catharina sat in the window watching the sun rise. She could feel the numbness inside. A void opened in her heart at the thought she'll be away for the next six years. Tears fell unabashed down her cheeks.

As the first rays fell on the flowers in her garden she took a walk. She went by the lovely orangery of her aunt. She passed her sister's shrub maze, to come to a small clearing surrounded by cherry tries. She watched her mother's tomb. She kneeled down to brush some leaves from it.

'I will miss you mother, but I'll be back as soon as I can.' She felt a warm wind on her face. It carried the scent of cherries. She always imagined as a child, especially when she was sad, that it was her mother trying to comfort her, when she smelled cherries. She inhaled it deeply in her lungs.

She stood and returned to her room to rest.


	3. Departure

The morning greeted her with a cheerful chirping of the birds outside her window. She had still a few hours till her departure. She stretched in her bed enjoying the warmth and comfort of it. She tried to commit to memory every detail of her sunny chamber. She lived there for at least 9 years now. She sat up to see a small tray of food an her bedside table. She smiled, and put a cookie to the side for the Domovoy. She poured herself a cup of coffee and opened the window. A breeze ruffled her hair. She could see Small kittens playing in the garden below. A sad smile played on her lips, but she made it a full blown, big smile almost immediately. She was strong, and there was no reason to be so dramatic. She put away the empty now cup and went for her bathroom.

It didn't take her long to go around the far side of the palace, where she lived, to say goodbyes to the servants, and various other employees. She visited the library, walking around, saying her farewells to her favourite place in the world. Her Stronghold.

She was leaving the kitchens, after seeing the cook, when a crow landed on her shoulder. She knew it to be her father's familiar. It was a certain sign that she was being summoned. She hurried through the corridors, the stairs, the hallways and galleries to the main wing.

The throne room was empty save for her father. She walked slowly towards him, taking her time to look closely at the bright stars that shone in the darkness of the high arches. She passed by the nebulae swirling in the air.

'Come ,now child. Do not force me to show my impatience.' She obeyed and hurried to where the throne stood in the centre of the room.

'Your Majesty, you have summoned me. How may I be of service.' She asked bowing before him.

'I wish to bid you farewell. Come close'

She stepped slowly towards him. Her eyes fearfully on the floor. He grabbed her chin and forced her face up.

'You are a child of mine. You were schooled into obedience, but where you go, you are to behave like the royal daughter you are. You are not to bring me shame.' And he released her as suddenly as she was captured.

She took a hasty step back. She looked at him, surprised.

'I will be receiving reports on your studies. I do realize how accomplished you already are, and that the art of magick is a bit less advanced in the west, but do pay attention to your studies. You may go now, and may your path be clear of dangers.'

She turned to leave.

'Wait!' She spun back.

'I forgot, take this. It will help you with your travels.' And he threw a small pendant at her. Catching it in her hand she stole a quick glance at it. She bowed. 'Thank you, Your Majesty. May I leave now?'

'Yes, go' And go she did. She strode down the grand staircase to the palace doors. The heavy woodwork was open and she saw the carriage readied for her. It was an enclosed carriage. the hood was engraved with images of wild horses, two of the horses placed at the front carried lanterns clasped in their teeth.

Two small trunks were tightly secured at the back. They contained both her and Camilla's belongings. She climbed the steps shutting the doors behind her. Camilla beamed at her.

'ready to go?' She was, and therefore she smiled back sitting in her place. She concentrated She pulled four big Kelpies from the fountain,and they stood by the carriage annoyed, neighing and snorting until the grooms came and put them to the carriage.

She ordered them to run and relaxed as the vehicle started to move fast towards the line of the trees. She glanced at the pendant she held in her hand. A horned snake coiled around a tree. The Seal of Veles. The talisman of Mages, and a help to those who travel the shadows. The instrument of punishment for oath breakers. She smiled. It was just like her father, to give her something useful, pretty but a warning nonetheless. The carriage run past the first trees. They were headed straight for The Ash Circle. She could sense it's power already. She forced the Kelpies to run faster and as they were about to collide with the trees of the circle she pushed them with her powers into the field of force around the trees. The carriage never hit them, instead was swallowed by the shadow they cast.

She sent a silent prayer to Veles, holding on to the seal her father have given her. She opened a large sigil around the carriage and the Kelpies. She directed them at the gate of oak in Hogwarts. She could physically feel the carriage turn and then she sent her power into the sigil. They were pushed. She could feel the horses whining. And then the pressure made her ears ring and with a jolt they emerged in between the trees.

The carriage came to a stop. They climbed out as fast as they could.

'Get the luggage,please? I will take the Kelpies.' Catharina asked Her cousin. Camilla obliged with a smile.

She went to stand by the strong water demons. She put a hand on the back of one of them. The grateful beast tried to kick her in return. She laughed and relived them from the heavy restraints. They paced nervously between the trees.

Camilla levitated their trunks to the side. When the heavy cart was empty Catharina raised her arms and summoned the shadow. It swallowed the carriage. In a blink of an eye the clearing was almost empty.

'Let's go' Camilla said from the side. Her cousin smiled in response. She cast a directing spell, and both young girls followed a small bird it produced. The Kelpies trailing behind.

'Ah!' Camilla's small cry stopped them. A magnificent castle loomed in the distance. They both stood and watched.

'It looks as if parts of it were taken from other castles only to be randomly added here' Camilla giggled at Catharina's comment.

'True enough'. She said between her giggles.

Catharina saw a lake not so far away. She released the kelpies and they run for it, only to disappear in it's waters seconds later.

She sighed and started for the castle with Camilla by her side.


	4. Arrival

It wasn't much of a walk, for the girls, before they reached the castle. They left their trunks by the staircase and Camilla pushed the heavy door. They entered a huge chamber with a grand staircase in front of them, and heavy doors to the right. There were some more passages and doors there, but considerably smaller than those on the right.

The girls heard a low murmur of voices from the large doors and that's where they went.

As they came closer to the doors, which were left slightly ajar, Catharina saw a beautiful Hall. It's walls were high but the ceiling disappeared behind the clouds on the enchanted sky that painted it. She looked in wonder at the beautiful illusion, planing to find out just how to charm her own ceilings that way.

'Yes, indeed I find those more useful than the dre...' The bearded man with purple robes lost track of what he was about to say when he saw the pair approaching the table, he and a few more people sat at, eating lunch.

He stood immediately smiling widely 'Welcome! We were expecting you a bit later this week I fear. But that's easily amended, would you care for some lunch?'

He gestured to the table. They both shook their heads however and the man looked a bit disappointed. Soon enough however the cheerful twinkle was back in his eyes.

Catharina was careful with her approach, she could sense the man's great power from where she stood, and that was quite a few feet away. She regarded him calmly. A jovial old man in purple robes. Nothing unusual, but the power emanating from him was a little overwhelming. She put barriers around her mind as he transferred his piercing gaze to her. She smiled politely, though.

'No matter then. Let's go to my office to get you sorted. As you must have already guessed I'm the headmaster here. You may call me professor Dumbledore.' And he gestured them back through the doors.

Surprised, both of them followed the Headmaster through many flights of stairs and corridors. There was so many of them it didn't take long to loose track of where they were.

After a while they came to a stop in front of a magnificent statue of a gargoyle.

'Bonbons' Dumbledore murmured and the sculpted monster came to life folding it's wings and jumping aside, only to reveal a sort of stone escalator behind them.

They stepped in, right after the old man. The stairs brought them to a pair of highly polished door.

Dumbledore walked into his office inviting them in.

It was a nice chamber of considerable size, circular in form with many windows letting the sunlight in. The rest of the walls were decorated with portraits. Many on those were empty or hosted some snoring wizard or a witch in her pyjamas.

'If you'd like to sit' The man gestured them to a pair of comfortable armchairs.

'Now let's get straight to the important matters. I realise that the level of your magic is much higher than most of our four or even fifth years and because of that it would be unfair if we put you in the first year, but you're both only twelve. Putting you in the third or fourth year would be a bit troublesome. I decided to place you in the second year.' They both politely nodded and waited for the rest of his speech. He smiled at them and continued 'Hopefully you will learn something different or new. As it is, since you will not attend the school as first years you will have to be sorted here and now.'

'Sorted' Camilla asked 'What does _sorting_ mean' The Headmaster smiled at the distrust in her voice.

'Simply, it will assign you to one of Hogwart's houses. We have four of them: Hufflepuff, Griffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The sorting is based on the child's abilities, predispositions, traits of character etc. It's all very simple'

That said he stood and reached to the shelf behind his desk. What he put before the girls had them staring at him as if he was a madman with an axe.

'An old hat?' Camilla asked. 'I'm not putting_ that_ on. It's hideous!'

'Hey, watch it!' Came a voice from the hat. That surprised the girls even more.

'Well, that my dears, is The Sorting Hat.'

'I'm still not putting it on' Said Camilla stubbornly.

Dumbledore chuckled. 'I'm afraid you will have to. It's the hat that sorts the students. If it's any consolation, it belonged to one of Hogwart's four Founders. Godric Griffindor.'

'Oh! Are all the houses named after the founders?' Catharina asked, her curiosity peaked.

'Yes,indeed. If you'd like there's a copy of 'Hogwarts, a history' in our library. You will find all sorts of useful facts.'

Catharina smiled at him gratefuly while Camilla rolled her eyes. Then she went back to eyeing the hat suspiciously.

'I guess miss Camilla will be the first one, per the alphabetical order.' he smiled at her outraged expression, and gently placed the old battered hat on her head.

The hat kept silent for a moment and then shouted 'Slytherin!'

Camilla started swiping at her hair as soon as the hat was off her head. The man came to Catharina and put the hat on her head.

'Oh, nice. A wonderful mind, lots of potential. A great deal of power... hmm... You'd be perfect for Ravenclaw. But I sense a lot of determination, and a desire for even more power hmm mm...'

'If Camilla is going I want to go to Slytherin, whatever that means.' She though at the hat.

'Oh, really now? Heh... guess you could achieve greatness there... hmm... but would that be good for you?...'

'I _want_ Slytherin.' She thought more fervently at the old piece of millinery.

'Very well then... Slytherin!'

Camilla smiled at her and Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment. He soon smiled again, however. He sat back in his chair, after depositing the hat back to its shelf.

He pointed his wand at the door and a stream of silver light shot through them.

'I called for you Head of The House. Before he comes I'll explain a few things. First, since we still have a few days of the summer holidays left, you will have the last four days to explore Hogwarts all by yourselves. You may go wherever you wish, aside from the Forbidden Forest and, as you are still too young, Hogsmeade. Other than that,as I said, feel free to go wherever you wish. Second. Do you have wands? I realise the type of magic practised in your country is a bit different, but here you'll need them.' He waited for them to answer.

Both girls reached into their robes at the same time each producing a wand, both of which they put on his desk.

'Mine is an eleven inch Hazel wood and Unicorn tail hair' said Camilla in a bored manner. She regarded the tool in question like something not really interesting, she kept only because it could sometimes come in handy.

Catharina looked at her own wand. The Wandmaker had quite a lot of trouble fitting her for it. None would match. He tried all the typical ones, some more unusual, and then he's best works. None worked. The man was scared for his life by that point. He didn't want to cross the king,and telling him his daughter could not be fitted for a wand would seal his fate. So he became desperate and tried some wands he would normally never give to a witch or wizard, even those he did not wish well. An experimental wand. Some of his works had more power than a wand should posses. Those were 'fussy' as he would describe them. Dangerous wands.

And that's how she became the owner of one of the rarest wands in existence.

'Mine is made of Ash wood' She said. Dumbledor looked at her expectantly.

'Yes?' He tried to encourage her.

She dropped her eyes at her wand again.

'With a draconite shard.' She could almost hear him holding his breath. And then she sure did hear him exhale, or more likely sigh. Camilla only stared, not completely comprehending the problem with it.

'That's... unusual' He said carefully. A draconite was a very rare gemstone, cut out of a living dragon's head. It was harder than diamond and like with diamonds one could only cut it with another stone of the same kind. Killing dragons was illegal,but in her country it was also taboo. Much like killing an unicorn. Plus, not all dragons could produce draconite. Only some species had that ability.

On another note, wands made using draconite were unlike those made using a dragon's heart string. They were unstable, quite rare and therefore extremely expensive. It wasn't however surprising that a king's child would wield one. Even a bastard.

What neither Dumbledore nor Camilla knew, was that her father worked himself into a rage when he heard about the problem and even more so about the solution. It was fortunate that the Duke of Sereth interfered or the poor craftsman might have really had his life forfeited.

'Well, if the Wandmaker decided it was the best you could have, I'm sure we'll have you performing some amazing spells in no time.' Dumbledore said trying to change the subject.

'One more thing, I'd like to ask you to refrain from practising the more advanced of your abilities on teachers and more importantly, fellow students.' He said righting his spectacles.

'Certainly, sir' Camilla replied.

There was a knock at the door and an older man of a formidable posture entered.

'You wanted to see me, Albus?' He asked, stealing a quick glance at the girls.

His rich silver moustache moved in a funny way, as he bit his lip anxiously.

'Yes, Horace. May I present Lady Catharina Van Vires and her cousin Lady Camilla Van Vires of the Carpathian Crown. They will be students in your house and I'd like you to escort them to Slytherin quarters and make sure they are comfortable in their new home.' He said smiling.

'Ah, Your Ladyship' The man was now smiling broadly at Catharina, rushing to shake her hand. She stood, without saying a word, as he described how happy he was to welcome her to his humble house of Slytherin. It was a bit puzzling but mostly, annoying.

'Ahem..' Dumbledore cleared his throat and sent a meaningful look at Slughorn.

'Oh! Yes, yes. If you'd please follow me miss Van Vires' And he ushered them both out of the headmaster's office.

**AN: Many thanks to my reviewers, especially to Alex for all the usefull advice. I'll try to do things the right way from now on.**


	5. Bad beginnings

'Lord, what fools these mortals be!'

'Midsummer's night dream' - Shakespear

Second year proved to be unusual for one Severus Snape.

Firstly, a very unusual event at Hogwarts, the appearance of two foreign students at the Slytherin table upon the arrival of Hogwarts students at the beginning of term, who turned out to be a pair of second years.

Second, Severus' instant dislike of one of the new students upon closer observation. She was a terrible know-it-all and aced all classes except Potions – which Severus was unquestionably the master of in their year. Young Snape was appalled at her quiet satisfaction when she performed all the spells perfectly, as if she expected not to perform it at all or for it to go awry. Therefore, he was all the more satisfied when she did not manage to master him in potions and proved to be in fact only mediocre in the subject.

Lastly, the most unexpected thing for Severus was when she became the Marauders number one target, replacing him in the role of their favorite victim. It was quite accidental, really. One day Black turned her pretty cousin's hair a terrible shade of green. The jinxed girl cried sitting on the floor while her cousin hexed Black and a laughing Potter so badly they had to stay in the Hospital Wing for a fortnight. A series of pranks followed, steadily increasing in meanness as she managed to fend them all off, until they were reduced to such childish acts as putting frogs in her bag or spiders in her clothes. The girl however never showed a sign of anger. She was as unbothered by their attempts to burn her books (which proved to be wisely hexed inflammable) as by the sudden disappearance of her shoes. It was expected their behavior would disappear, as a wall of indifference met it but instead of slowly diminishing, it only became more and more mean so that soon people feared becoming victims by relation and she was left with only her cousin daring to approach her. A social pariah, even amongst her own house, she was however still unperturbed by it.

And perhaps that was what bothered Snape the most, that even when she was obviously bullied, almost as vindictively as himself, she was not even a tiny bit unnerved by it. Not that he himself was but she never even fought back. While it became a point of honor with him to find more and more clever spells that would either protect him or keep Black and Potter at bay she rarely bothered to even raise her wand at them. She seemed to have some sort of barrier or shield charm on her though whenever they chose to hit her with something nasty.

Despite that entire ruckus around the new students Severus used that (he was sure) temporal breather to focus on his studies. He gladly helped Lily with her potions. It was precisely the fact that she asked him for help that had driven him to deepen his knowledge of potions (which he fortunately had a natural aptitude for) and earn Slughorn's approval. He was maybe more proud of Lily's improvement than his own. But then again it was nothing surprising, Lily was after all a very bright witch.

However, he could not say the same about the Van Vires girl. The first time he was forced into direct interaction with her was when Lily had fallen ill and they were appointed partners as coincidently her cousin was also absent. It was a rather demanding task they were appointed by McGonagall in Transfiguration and he had to suffer her presence to complete it. They divided the workload in half and while Severus was almost finished after two hours, she was only at the beginning. He was so perplexed by her obvious ineptitude with the task at hand that he almost offered his help. He was stopped by Potter and Black who chose that moment to notice his presence again (perhaps because of his rather close proximity with their current favorite victim) and decided to make it easier on themselves and use one prank to humiliate the both of them. They cast some sort of decorating spell that adorned the corner of the library where the two Slytherins studied. Everything in two feet radius turned either pink or red, banners hung from the wall next to them announcing them as a pair and the whole spectacle was topped by a fanfare in their honor. The effect was that Madam Pince threw them out of the library for disturbing other students, all of Hogwarts gossiped about the greasy boy and bullied hermit becoming an item and Snape once again returned to the Marauder's bulling radar.

That perhaps more than anything else made Severus Snape hate Catharina Van Vires, with a vengeance.


	6. The other side

**_'Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,_**

**_But seemingly so, for my peculiar end:_**

**_For when my outward action doth demonstrate_**

**_The native act and figure of my heart_**

**_In compliment extern, 'tis not long after_**

**_But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve_**

**_For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.'_**

**_(Iago – Othello – Shakespeare)_**

For Catharina her second year was much different than it was for Severus. She was a girl used to being treated with contempt by people around her and over time became a master at not being bothered by it. Especially since, she believed her peers to be not only childish and unschooled but also extremely ignorant. Being surrounded by plots and scheming all her life she could not, at first, get used to that peaceful sense of calm where anybody's biggest problem was a difficult home assignment or even more ridiculous, love life or their social status. Catharina very quickly understood the principles behind the Slytherin's social ladder. In fact, it was not much different from that of her father's court, the only difference was that it was not your close relation to the King that was valued but the so-called 'purity' of your blood. In the beginning, being a princess of a magical bloodline made her somewhat of a celebrity amongst most snakes, then they noticed how she shied away from people and disliked discussing muggles and their position in regards to the wizarding world. Almost as soon as all that, some Snake with connections found out and passed on how she was only a royal bastard and suddenly her pseudo- fan club dissolved. Even though her blood was pure, probably more so than any of her Slytherin classmates she was deemed below notice and Camilla, a pretty, sociable and most of all legitimate daughter of a duke took her place in the spotlight. To Catharina's great relief too.

As to her magic, she had problems. It was not the spells or her understanding of their functioning. It was the very fact she had to perform them using a wand. It took her some time to get used to her wand and also it took even more time for her wand to get accustomed to her. Then she begun to realise that while using a sigil or raw magic you yourself controlled the flow of your magic, that it was your will that directed and focused the power, in wand magic the wand replaced all that. She had to break her habit of tightly controlling her forces because it was precisely what held her back from perfecting the use of a wand. It took her some time before she was able to use is effortlessly. She continued to deepen her knowledge of wand use and set out to learn as many handy spells as she could manage, rummaging the shelves of the Hogwarts' library until she was sure she managed to find all of the desired spell books and made a schedule to read through all of them before she returned to her country. She also started experimenting. She would use a word instead of a sigil with her magic. She would try to envision a sigil instead of speaking the spell while using a wand. All those progressed very slowly but she could feel that in time she could be able to join and use interchangeably both kinds of power. There were of course other parts of the curriculum, but mostly she had no trouble with them, apart from potions that is. While she was more than able to follow instructions given while making a potion she had difficulties with preparing the ingredients and understanding their properties. Even more so when it seemed a given ingredient could react differently while in contact with some other component of the potions.

Somewhere at the beginning of the term, a small group of bullies decided to make her their target. Well, more accurately it begun with pranking Camilla but ended up with Catharina becoming their pet target as she was able to shake off their feeble attempts at jokes as if it was nothing. It seemed to become a point of questionable honour for them to prank her successfully at least once. To no result of course, as Catharina's shields were ever present and could withstand some of the most advanced black magic spells, not mentioning a tickling charm or two. Her barriers were designed by her father's best defence advisers, after a few assassination attempts at her life. Not only were they more or less permanent but also very resistant. Those simple-minded kids however did not understand how she could escape being humiliated by their carefully designed pranking plans and became much more ruthless, violent even. Those few friends she managed to make amongst her fellow house mates suffered and soon the only person who could approach her without a threat of harm was her cousin, Camilla.

As it was somewhere during the year she noticed a boy in her house who seemed to harbour some pretty hostile feelings towards her. She did not understand why as she has never even spoke to him much less done anything to harm him. But as it was the boy seemed to greatly enjoy her failures in the field of magic. Also the boy was a potions genius. She respected people with knowledge and skill but in this case she sometimes found herself irritated at his obvious satisfaction when he performed better in that particular class. Therefore when she was paired with him in Transfiguration she was careful not to get on his bad side and tried her best. The boy however seemed displeased with both the quality and speed of her work as he tended to make irritating noises under his breath. Determined not to make it any worse Catharina kept her nasty comments (and she had quite a few) to herself, clenched her teeth and continued working on her own pace. Her quiet effort however went to waste. The boy finished his part of the project and looked as if he wanted to offer her some help when everything around them became pink and red, the wall they sat by adorned itself with banners saying 'Snivallus and Kathy Snape' or ' & – LOVE'. As if the decour was not enough a loud round of fanfare went off bringing on them the wrath of one greatly annoyed Ms. Pince. The lady in question proceeded to yell at them about disturbing others and having no respect for the rules and then promptly threw them out. She also banned them from the library for the rest of the school year.

Snape only looked at her once, said 'never come close to me again' turned on his heel and stormed off. She could still hear the laughs of the Marauders as they run off towards the other end of the corridor. That event made her a sort of public spectacle for a while with people congratulating her in the middle of the corridor or the appearance of more banners with 'Snape love' or some other idiocy on it. It stopped however when she burned every banner she came across and turned a few people into mutes for a few weeks. After that she was more or less forgotten. Even the marauders' jokes became a half-hearted attempts at pranks more than anything else. Snape however had it bad. Catharina watched one afternoon in amazement as he proceeded to duel three marauders at once and hold his own. At least until the ratty marauder cast a disarming spell at him in a most cowardly manner, from the back. But as per Snape's own request she did not even try to get mixed up.

And that was how the rest of her second year passed by almost without her noticing. Her time was divided between hers school work and her own studies. She had no friends to speak of and even her cousin hang out with her less and less as she continued to befriend more and more of the girls in their house from all the years as well. Camilla was always a person to make connections for herself in all places and spheres. The school year passed and Catharina did surprisingly well on her exams. But before she knew it, it was time to leave Hogwarts for the summer.

It was only Catharina who would stay in Britain for the summer as Camilla was going back home, not being restrained by Catharina's father's order as her cousin was. Catharina was to spend the holidays in London in the house of her maternal aunt. It was her grandfather who arranged it.

She bid her cousin farewell as they reached the King's Cross station and went to find her aunt. In the end she was picked up by a servant and apparated to a big Victorian house somewhere in the outskirts of the city. The neighbourhood was quiet, the house spacious and the servants attentive and nice. Her aunt was not a warm person but has shown her a measure of affection. She was told that she could have anything she wished for and had only but to ask (per her fathers directions) and after that shown to her room. The room where she would spend at least four more summers was quite big and richly furnished with two big windows and a nice big fireplace. She put her things away when they were delivered to her and continued to practice her magic.

When she decided she was not making big enough of a progress she asked her aunt for a tutor. The man who was hired for that position was a young Hogwarts graduate who was training to become a master in Transfiguration. At first she was shy around Matthew but soon taken a liking to him. He asked many questions about her former magical training and was quite impressed after a little demonstration. Only then did Catharina come to know what kind of an achievement it was for a wizard in this country to be able to use his magic without the use of a wand. Something that came to her naturally. Twice a week Matthew would come to train with her, he thought her many useful spells she was to study in the future (like the summoning charm) tutored her in transfiguration ( which he did expertly, making everything clear to her) and explained a few things in potions.

Her aunt, however decided that she could not sit at home and study her summer away and therefore forced her to attend a few so called 'diner parties' with her friends' families. It so happened that some of them were the families of her house mates or some other Hogwarts student's in her year. First, her pure-blood acquaintances were puzzled as to why would that weird foreign bastard attend those meetings in the company of Lady Freya de Striga but after it was reviled that she was her niece and the future heir to the de Striga name and title she was in the spotlight yet again.

Catharina however had no desire to become a part of the young Slytherin elite. She knew how shallow and false those people really could be and in no way wanted to become like them. She had enough pretending and power struggle in her 12 years to last a lifetime, hopefully she'd be free of them upon her return.

Upon one such occasion she met Snape. Or saw him from the distance was more like it. When he caught a glimpse of her person he run for the door as if the room was on fire.

And that was the scheme that prevailed for the next two years of her life. She would spend the whole school year at Hogwarts studding furiously, having little else to do with her time. She became quite a hermit, having almost no friends and spending little time socialising with her peers. She was a quiet child and never one to stand out in any way she was mostly left alone, save for the occasional clash with the Marauders. Her summers were equally uneventful under the watchful eye of her aunt and the many servants and tutors hired for her comfort. It was a life different from that she has known so far. She was not threatened on a daily basis. No one tried to take her life and there were no jealous and spiteful courtiers around. For at least a while she allowed herself to be happy.


	7. Enemies?

She straightened her legs and jumped from the sill she sat on. She glanced around. The dimly lit room was rather small. She found it by accident in her third year when she hurt her foot. She was looking for support and grabbed a sconce then almost toppled over when it moved under her hand. When the sconce moved, a part of the wall by it moved as well, revealing a small dark chamber. It was obviously unattended for quite some time (even by the house-elves) as layers of dust covered what little furniture was left.

It was a sort of a sitting room with a fireplace, two armchairs that were falling apart and a window that took up the whole of one wall. The window had a nice, big sill with a sort of a cushioned seat. The big window presented a magnificent view of the lake from beneath the surface. On the more sunny days, it gave the room a soft green lighting and on others covered the small space in darkness.

Throughout the two years that passed since she found it, Catharina managed to make the space her own. For the first few months, she had to go through a lot of trouble to properly furnish and secure the space. She placed all protective sigils and wards she knew (and that was a few) on the door, she went through some of the more advanced spell books and thought herself every spell to keep that place safe and used it. She also had to use the reducing spell on a few pieces of furniture she took from some abandoned classroom and move most of her belongings from the dormitory in a way that no one would notice. Not that anyone paid her much attention anymore, anyway. For most of her third year, she cleaned the room, repaired and transfigured what she could to make it more comfortable. During her summer, holidays that year she made her aunt buy her a nice trunk with an undetectable extension charm cast on it so that she could transport more things into Hogwarts. That allowed her to bring a small desk with her along with a bookshelf and a ton of books.

All the effort she put into arranging the place to her liking paid off as it became not only a quiet workspace but also a convenient hideout when she happened to run across the marauders once in a while or when she was being pestered by her housemates to join weird dark arts fan club they seemed to have. She did not even have to go to the library anymore as she brought most of her book with her in her fourth year and what she did not bring along she simply ordered with Flourish & Blotts in Diagon Alley and they owled it to her.

Now she straightened and stretched, feeling her muscles relax. She spent a few hours studying and now it was past curfew. She'll have to get back to her common room unnoticed or she'd be forced to sleep crouched uncomfortably on the armchairs. She put away her textbooks and put out the fire and the candles. Using her wand for illumination, she hurried to the makeshift door. The chamber was placed somewhere between the Slytherin common room and the entrance to the dungeons. It was the Slytherin turf and she was not likely to be hurt by her housemates, also at this time of the evening almost no student of the other houses would venture here.

She carefully applied all the wards back into place and slowly and cautiously she crept along the walls of the dungeons. She knew a few faster ways to get herself to her dormitory but it gave her a thrill to be skulking around school corridors unnoticed. She was almost half way through when she heard muffled sounds along with quiet giggles and chuckles. She carefully peeked from around the corner.

She saw two tall figures accompanied by a shorter one standing over a prone shiluette on the floor. The trio was visibly shaking and judging by the sounds they made they were having quite the fun. She recognised those three almost immediately. Black, Potter, and their sidekick Pettigrew. How dared they attack a fellow Slytherin this close to the common room? She boiled inside. The fury in her abated a little when she recognised their victim as her least favourite classmate – Severus Snape. He was gagged and was struggling in his bonds, quite to no avail.

She heard Potter whisper to his friends 'We should charm all of his hair off, maybe then he'll have less trouble keeping it clean' And the Gryffindors started laughing so hard Pettigrew almost choked. 'Quite the good idea, Prongs' Black whizzed out and when he could control himself a bit better he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Snape. The latter immediately stilled, his eyes trained on the wand. Instinctively she had her own wand drawn before she could think about what she was getting herself into. She sent a silent shield charm to protect Snape. The spell Black murmured rebounded and hit the caster instead. As Black lost his famous dark mane, his friend indulged in another laughing fit. No one noticed as she disillusioned herself and crept towards Snape. She released his bounds and noticed he was now completely still, his eyes wide. He noticed her. She bent over to his ear and whispered slightly. 'I'm going to disillusion and disarm Potter, ok? Be ready to run' She received a slight nod in return and straightened to put her words into action. Strengthening the shield between herself and the Gryphons, she removed the disillusionment.

The trio in front of her had no time to react as she pointed her wand at Potter and sent a silent disarming charm at him. As Potter hit the wall behind him, Snape caught his wand and disarmed Black before the latter had time to as much as breathe. The two Slytherins were left with their victims unconscious and a third boy standing there shivering. When they both turned his way he just squealed and fainted dead away. She wanted to run but saw Snape standing as if glued to the spot, breathing hard more in anger than exhaustion with murder written all over his face. He was raising his wand when she drew a sigil and summoned the banshee scream. The sound exploded all around them and Snape fell to the floor clutching his ears. When it was over he was on his feet and yelling at her 'Are you mad?' Her only response was 'We better run, the teachers will be here any moment.' And she was left with no other choice but to follow as he pushed against her and disappeared in an adjourning tunnel that led back towards the Great Hall. However, she kept back a little and muttered 'Enervate' as she turned to follow Snape.

As she did so, she heard hurried steps approaching through the main tunnel, moments latter she could hear a shrill scream of 'Potter! Black! Pettigrew! DETENTION!' . It was undoubtly professor McGonagall who got to the marauders first. She lost no more time in wondering what will happen to those idiots and hurriedly caught up to Snape and pulled at his sleeve till they reached the wall entrance she left no longer than fifteen minutes ago. She opened the passage and pushed Snape in, rushing after him and reapplying the wards again. She waved her hand and lit the candles. As she turned, she heard a surprised exclamation of 'It's YOU!' as she faced him.


	8. Discovery

**'What Heaven-entreated heart is this,**

**Stands trembling at the gate of bliss?**

**Holds fast the door, yet dares not venture**

**Fairly to open it, and enter;**

**Whose definition is a doubt**

**'Twixt life and death, ''twixt in and out.**

**Say, lingering fair, why comes the birth **

**Of your brave soul so slowly forth?'**

**(Richard Crashaw "To the Noblest and Best of Ladies the Countess of Debigh")**

Catharina only raised an eyebrow At Snape's outburst. They both regarded each other carefully for a while.

'Why did you help me?' He asked a bit tersely. She shrugged in response. Not saying a word she passed him by collecting a blanket and a few pillows. She climbed onto the sill once again and started preparing for sleep.

'What do you think you're doing?' He demanded, clearly annoyed. She glanced at him over her shoulder, still silent she pointed her wand at the hearth and relit the fire. All the while Snape was standing awkwardly by the door getting visibly more and more annoyed. She sighed and turned to face him once more.

'I didn't exactly save YOU' she said quietly. 'I only noticed you were the victim when I already decided to teach them a lesson. It's the way the marauders do whatever they want to whomever they want that was the trigger, really. I just couldn't stand for them brutalising Slytherins a few steps from our common room.' She shrugged again.

Snape somehow looked relieved. He sat down heavily in one of the armchairs and brushed the hair out of his face. She noticed he had dark circles under his eyes and his skin looked more sallow than ever, if that was even possible.

'Lately I just have too much on my mind. They used my lack of concentration and I was too slow and probably too surprised to act.' He dropped his head back and let out a heavy sigh ' I didn't stand a chance this time'

Snape sat there with his eyes closed and his head thrown back, resting. The light from the fireplace cast shadows on his face, making it seem much more stern and somehow much older. Undoubtedly he was tired. He had dark circles under his eyes , apparently he was loosing sleep lately. She was surprised he could act like that around her. She knew for sure he hated her. For the last two years he avoided her like the plague and every time when forced to interact with her he was nothing but brusque and mean.

Now she watched as he slowly dozed off in her favourite armchair, as if completely oblivious to his surroundings. She was curious about what would make Snape act so clearly out of character.

She allowed a bit of her power to slip out of it's bounds and wrapped it around him. Then using the slightest of caresses she touched him with it. She sensed his protections and knew he guarded his mind well, but not well enough. She slipped into his thoughts unnoticed. She couldn't search his memory or dig into his mind without him realising she was there, so she simply waited and observed. At first it was just a jumble of random thoughts about marauders with the feeling of hatred, resentment and anger added to the mix. Then it was calmer as he thought of his school work and a bit darker when his thoughts switched to dark arts. It unsettled her when she understood he was a part of the Knights of Walpurgis . She was still trying to control her surprise when an image of a red headed girl filled his thoughts. She stared dumbfounded as Lily Evans strolled through Snape's mind. It was plain to be understood that he had feelings for the girl. Worse, for a while she was able to sense them herself. She watched as he recalled event after event, when the girl was particularly nice to him or when she was especially mean to Potter and the like. It was obvious it was some sort of relaxation method for him. But as his mind turned to his fantasies of Evans and how wonderful their married life would be in the future she was still too bewildered to hide her presence well enough. He noticed a stranger in his thoughts.

In a flash he was fully alert and his barriers were back full force. He opened his eyes and glared at her. She did not dare move a muscle as he stood and slowly advanced on her, the wave of his anger reaching her before his body did.

He bent over slightly so that their eyes were on the same level. The fury that coiled inside of him like a snake ready to strike woke in her a sudden urge to flee. She shivered as he hissed into her face 'I assure you Van Vires I am not a person who you'd like to have as your enemy. But if you ever tell a soul about this evening's events with Potter and his gang or of what you spied in my mind... I will kill you. Do you understand that?' His black eyes bore into her own green. She sat as if paralysed while he waited for her response. She had to force herself not to nod. Instead she spoke in a slightly strained voice. 'You don't scare me Snape. Nor do your friends in that little dark arts fun club you have. And you have no idea how much you don't want to make me your enemy.' She stared him in the eye 'But I will make you a deal – I won't tell of your Marauder trouble or your adventures with the Knights and in exchange you won't tattle on me for having a hideout.' A speculative look came over his face. She knew he was wondering if that was the last thing she saw in his mind. 'And the rest?' He asked in an even voice. 'Rest?' _She should be an actress_, she thought as she arranged her face to show confusion. He looked suspicious for a moment and then murmured 'Never mind' before he reached to shake the hand she offered him. A shiver she didn't understand went down her back as his long slender fingers wrapped themselves around her smaller hand. He held her fingers firmly for a few seconds that wiped her mind clear but before she could regain her senses he was already gone from the room leaving her slightly confused and more than a little worried.

As she predicted from the moment she took out her wand to curse the Marauders, she became their favourite target for the next few weeks. It all started with Black and his stupid idea of revenge. Catharina really wondered how he managed to function at all if the best his crippled mind could come up with was a bunch of threats to expose her part in 'the argument' and get her into detention or stupid pranks like cutting her book bag to pieces or turning her pumpkin juice to some sort of gooey mass.

On the other hand Snape was left alone as the Marauders probably didn't want any of their insults to backfire. How could they laugh at him for being defended by a girl if the said girl knocked them unconscious and landed them in detention that would last till Christmas?

And so they vented their spleen on her. Their pranks escalated until one day she got caught off guard and cracked her scull open as a result of a prank gone wrong. That also made Camilla more interested in her well-being for a while. She tried to be extra nice to her and made Catharina sit with her and her friends at the Slytherin table during meals. Catharina never really liked people her cousin chose to befriend. But Camilla an obviously different opinion of them as she seemed to prefer their company to her cousins from almost the moment they set foot in Hogwarts. It was those friends that made Camilla join the Knights as Catharina was only too aware. For a while Camilla even tried to persuade her to join but Catharina's obvious disinterest discouraged her.

Instead Catharina and her cousin slowly drifted apart and their once friendly almost sisterly relations were reduced to polite chitchat on the few occasions Camilla decided on a whim she wanted to talk to her. Or simple ignorance as Camilla didn't want her friends to think her a hermit as they did Catharina.

So it came as quite the surprise when suddenly most of Camilla's friends were nice to her and Camilla herself acted as if they were never less than sisters.

The most awkward part of that sudden popularity was when she was forced to attend their parties or more like drinking contests as that activity was usually the highlight of those evenings.

Catharina's lack of enthusiasm for such outings made her popularity dim more and more till one day she was no longer part of her cousin's 'elite' circle. Too her own relief.

For the reminder of the year she lived in relative peace broken from time to time by a glimpse of the Marauders bulling Snape or Snape himself glaring at her with undisguised dislike.

It was during her summer that year that a Hogwarts letter provided for a surprise the like of which she never expected. That letter brought brought with it a shiny prefect badge. She was stunned because it was true that over her stay at Hogwarts she not only improved but now excceled in wand magic. She wasn't of course as good as her professors but hoped one day to be even better. But all that hadn't in her opinion waranted for her nomination. She wasn't the most outgoing of students and she didn't like to deal with other people's problems if she didn't have to. And now it would be her job description. But it also had it's perks. She could give the Marauders a detention or two and she knew immediately she will enjoy doing just that when she got back to school.


	9. Strange feeling

**Author's note:Sorry for the long breaks between the chapters but for a while now I've been neck deep in my BA work, so it's kind of difficult for me to find time for my ff. Plus I could really use some help from a nice Beta, so if anyone would be as nice as to offer... I can promise loads of virtual chocolate and to be eternally grateful. Thanks for all the reviews (esmeralda023) and hope you have fun. - Martha**

The age of fifteen is probably difficult for all teens. Catharina was no different as she started her fifth year. She grew a bit taller and her hair grew a little, but compared to some of the other girls from her house she was still a kid. Most of them started rounding up and not in the ate-too-much-pie way but the I'm-getting-sexy-and-I-know-it kind of way. But she didn't really pay too much attention to it as her head filled with plans of how to get the Marauders in detention.

Her enthusiasm dimmed a little during her train ride back to Hogwarts. First she had to stand being bossed around by the pompous Lucious Malfoy and then she was paired with Remus Lupin, of all people, to do her rounds with. And thanks to Avery she was left with all the first years to show around.

As far as surprises went, life had one more in store for her. After the first potions class of the term Slughorn had invited her to join 'him and a couple of bright young students, for a nice dinner and lively discussion' in his private quarters. It was all the more of a surprise, since the only people ever invited to the Club were either rich and influential or related to some famous witch or wizard. Or they were a famous witch or wizard in the making themselves. True enough she was a royal bastard of one of the most influential magical communities in the Eastern Europe, but she was sure that wasn't why she was invited. Slughorn already had Camilla in his clutches and she thought it satisfied his hunger for nobility. And as she never excelled at potions she couldn't really warrant for such an invitation. She just couldn't believe Slughorn was impressed with her school work in general. The very same day she noticed Snape giving her a nasty look during dinner. 'Gee, jealous, much?' she thought. She wasn't in the least bit happy about the invitation. Too much precious time lost on idle chit-chat. She would gladly give her spot up for Snape, but she knew that he'd rather die than take anything she gave him. Her life as a fifth year followed the familiar pattern that she created for herself in the last three years. With a couple of differences. Study, do the rounds with Lupin, study, go to the horrid soirées Slughorn organised for his 'Slug Club' and then study again.

'You really do like to study, don't you?' She was surprised to discover that remark was meant for her. She glanced up from the book she held and saw Remus Lupin standing in front of her.  
'Not all of us can be as naturally brilliant as you, genius' she quipped at him. He sent her an easy smile and sat down beside her. She glanced at her charmed pocket watch and decided it was still a quarter before the next class started.  
'So you come here early after lunch to read?' he was stubborn, and early in the year he somehow decided to make friends with her. And she didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. So she tried to ignore him every time they had rounds together, determined not to speak to him. He was a Marauder after all. But he told her jokes she couldn't help but laugh at and funny stories about Black and Potter. Contrary to what other people said about him he wasn't quite as shy as she believed him to be.  
And so after a while they established an easy companionship, of sorts, and generally got along with each other.  
'So what are you reading?' he asked . He could be really annoying sometimes. She sighed and closed the book. There would be no more reading for her, now that he decided he wanted to talk.  
'A book, Lupin. You know, printed pages bound together and all that.' She sighed and looked at him. He was sitting there, at her desk in the back of the charms classroom, taller than her, with his tawny hair falling into his eyes, a nice smile tugging at his lips. He looked better today, not as tired and sickly. She smiled a small smile herself. 'You better run to your seat Remus. I told you time and again, you don't want your friends to see you with me.' His smile only broadened. 'You are my friend as well, Catharina' Her eyebrow arched and he laughed. He rose and still smiling like an idiot he sat in his usual seat.

At that precise moment Camilla and her entourage entered the classroom. As per her usual custom she ignored her cousin and sat chatting with the other snakes at the front of the room. Cat wasn't really unhappy that they drifted apart during their stay at Hogwarts. First of all because she'd rather jump from the Astronomy tower than sit there, with those girls, reading with excitement the newest 'Witch Weekly' and commenting on the gossip columns, and second of all, because she was used to it. People did that at her father's court all the time. One second you were best friends and the other you barely spoke to one another. A simple question of changing political alliances.  
As it was Camilla found people whose company suited her better than Catharina's did.  
People started filling into the room and she forgot all about her silly sentimental thoughts. Potter and Black strolled into the classroom laughing loudly. She rolled her eyes and turned to the front of the room where Professor Flitwick was starting a lecture on the use of the silencing charm.

She focused wholeheartedly on her work, not noticing that a student was missing from the room. At least not until Flitwick paused his lecture to say 'No worries mister Snape! Sit down, sit down!'.  
She was surprised she didn't hear the latecomer. And then she noticed Snape standing by her desk, stiff and clearly annoyed. She decided it would be wiser just to ignore him. And she was right because the minute she turned away from him he put his bag by the desk and sat beside her. He took out some parchment and a quill, and trying to keep as far away from her as possible, begun taking notes. The lecture was an easy one. The Marauders were giggling on the other side of the room. Lupin glanced at her from time to time. Not having much to do, her thoughts started drifting away from the class.

After a while she found herself looking at Snape's hands rather than the professor. She watched in silent amazement the swift swishes of his writing. The gentle yet firm way he held the shaft of the quill. The precise movements of his wrist. It was the strangest sensation ever but she felt as if hypnotised. Suddenly she felt something hit her forehead. She snapped her head up and looked around puzzled. She saw Lily Evans looking intently at the small paper ball that hit Cat seconds before.

'Pass it to Severus' Evans mouthed to her. Shrugging she took the crumpled piece of paper and turned to Snape. She cleared her throat quietly but loud enough to get his attention. And he paid her no mind. She tried to make a 'psst' noise at him, also to no avail. Finally, a little irritated, she poked his arm. 'What?' he snapped at her angrily. Surprised, she could only hold out her hand with the paper and point at Evans, who was soundly ignoring them. At that Snape snatched the paper away and turned back to the professor. After he thought she was back to taking notes he unfolded the message, read it and then crumpled it again. All the while not a muscle moved in his face. Cat tried to concentrate for the rest of the lesson, and not to get annoyed when at the end of it, Snape jumped out of his seat and rushed out of the classroom as if she was a leper.

The rest of the day was as uneventful as any other normal day. After the curfew she found herself passing through dark corridors on the second floor admiring the waning moon reflected in the lake.  
'Boo!' she heard from behind, and before she could scream a hand shot out from behind her and clasped around her mouth to stifle the sound. And that was how she found herself with her back plastered against Lupin's chest. She knew it was Lupin. Somehow even after she calmed down he was reluctant to let her go. He only released her after she struggled a little. She turned on him the instant she was free. 'What were you thinking?' She hissed angrily. Because she was angry. She didn't notice him and that annoyed her.  
He flashed her that little smile of his and held his hands up apologetically. 'No need to get so angry' he seemed to be in a rather good mood. And it was probably contagious because suddenly she felt like giggling. And she did giggle, surprising Lupin. He stopped in his tracks and stared.  
'What?' She asked a bit offended. She then felt herself blush. What was wrong with her? She spent the last three months, doing rounds with Lupin and never before had she felt so silly and self-conscious. Lupin just stared harder. Embarrassed she turned away from him and hurried down the corridor to get the patrol done with. He caught up with her soon enough, now somehow silent himself. 'What are you doing the next Hogsmead weekend?' he asked all of a sudden. Not thinking too much she replied 'I'll probably be studying, why?'. He stopped her and turned her to face him. She felt uncomfortable like that, but didn't want to move away least he feel insulted. 'Will you go with me?' He asked seriously. Now confused she asked 'Where?'. Lupin laughed. Then when she wanted to ask why he was laughing he kissed her.  
It was just a simple kiss. Just his lips pressed against hers. It didn't last that long but to her it seemed a really long time before it ended. She felt the light, yet incredibly warm touch even after he pulled away, and blushing, looked at her.

She found herself just staring at him, dumbfounded. Then before he could say something or ask her out again, they heard an even more confused and surprised voice asking, ' Merlin, Moony! What was that?' And they turned to see Black and Potter standing behind them with some sort of cloak dropped to the ground at their feet.


	10. The feeling continues

Remus didn't really plan on kissing Catharina. She just looked so sweetly embarrassed he couldn't help himself. He never really thought about her in a romantic way before, he didn't really think much about her at all, until they were paired together for the prefect rounds. But recently he often caught himself glancing at her in class. Sometimes, if she was really focused on the lesson and wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, he outright stared at her. After classes, in the common room, he couldn't properly concentrate on the conversation and he often found himself daydreaming or thinking about her. He did know those were the classic signs of a crush. However, he wasn't certain Cat would welcome his advances and so he kept it to himself.

That is he did till now. After Sirius asked his question the air in the corridor was so heavy with tension, one could cut it with a knife. Cat stared at him and his friends in turn, clearly bewildered. James was speechless, unlike Sirius, who started ranting 'Merlin! Are you nuts? Why would you kiss her? She's a bloody Slytherin! And she's a weirdo. I mean, come on Moony! We used to laugh at her together!'

That wasn't the nicest thing to hear about the guy who just kissed you, so Remus wasn't at all surprised to notice Catharina edging away from him and towards an unused classroom. Of course neither James nor Sirius noticed. She was probably using that strange magic of hers. When he smelled a very faint trace of ozone in the air he was sure she was. The boy at the same time wanted to grab her and keep her from leaving and distract his friends so they wouldn't notice her retreat. She backed away unnoticed towards the dark corridor and then disappeared.

This really wasn't something Remus envisioned when he thought of confessing his feelings. Or even when he decided to throw caution to the wind and kissed her, so that she'd understand without him having to really tell her. It was the worst case scenario that he hasn't really thought about at all.

'Leave it be guys. We'll talk about it some other time'

'I'm NOT leaving it be!' shouted Sirius 'you're not dating HER'

James only stood back with a forbidding expression on his face. Remus was more and more angry. They not only ruined the moment for him and Cat now they, or rather Sirius, had the audacity to tell him who he could or couldn't be friends with or date. They were acting like the stuck up idiots Cat has been telling him they were. He always defended them thinking she was a bit biased, but now he wasn't so sure.

Just as Sirius was starting another rant about dating 'the crazy Slytherin' Remus lost his cool. Pulling his wand out he shouted 'Silentium concutio!' A charm the prefects used to notify a teacher of a wayward student in need of a punishment beyond the prefects' authority.

Both Sirius and James stared at him, surprised he'd tattle on them. 'Maybe a detention will cool those heads of yours' Remus said with barely restrained anger and marched away just as McGonagall rounded the corner. Remus didn't know who was more surprised at his behaviour, his friends or his teacher.

* * *

At the same time Catharina paced her hideout in the dungeons. She walked from one wall to the other and tried to understand Lupin's motives. She was utterly puzzled. She never even once suspected he may harbour romantic feelings for her. She assumed that they were just friends. Why couldn't Lupin see it the same way? Catharina had no experience with boys so far. None at all. True, she was fifteen. But she had no interest in such things. At least not yet. Plus she was too plain for boys to notice her in that way. Or so she thought.

She liked Lupin just fine, but only as a friend. He was nice to her and didn't expect anything in return. He talked to her about school, books, muggle music and many other silly things. She didn't have to think about any ulterior motives because she knew he didn't have any. Or at least she hoped he didn't have them. For the first time in her life she felt appreciated not for whose relative she was but for who she was herself. And she liked it. Plus Lupin was a very nice boy all in his own right. Talking to him was never a chore. And he made her laugh all the time.

For a while she sat thinking what she'll do when she will have to face Lupin again. Or about what will those crazy friends of his do to her for daring to befriend him. She fell asleep in the middle of devising a nice strategy to avoid Black.

The next morning she woke up late. She rushed out from the dungeons in hopes she'd at least be able to grab a sandwich before classes. She had transfiguration first and hoped she wouldn't be late. McGonagall would surely give her a detention. She run at full speed along the corridor a little bit happy because of her own tardiness. It gave her the perfect opportunity to sit somewhere at the back where Lupin, or more importantly Black, wouldn't see her.

She reached the classroom as the last student was closing the door. She sneaked in and sat furthest to the back. She didn't notice who sat beside her so intent she was on keeping Black's head in her sight and generally trying not to be noticed by him.

'You don't really have to be so nervous, you know' she stiffened. She was so focused on Black she didn't notice that the boy who sat by her was in fact Remus himself. She turned slowly to face him. He gave her a weak smile and turned to listen to McGonagall.

She felt herself blush. If he could be so nonchalant so could she. After a moment she calmed down and even started taking notes. She felt a bit childish, getting all worked up because of a silly kiss. At some point she felt Remus drop something in her lap. She glanced at him but he looked as intensely focused on the lesson as he always did. She unfolded the piece of paper and read.

_Cat,_

_I'm sorry about yesterday. I'd like to talk to you about it. Meet me after classes by the greenhouse no.5?_

_Remus_

She felt a bit uneasy at that. She hoped to forget the incident and he wanted to talk about it. But he was her friend and she didn't want him to feel uneasy. So she scribbled _Sure, don't worry_ at the bottom of the page and dropped it in his lap.

* * *

After the last of her classes she headed for one of the school courtyards that she knew to be Remus's favourite. She could go to the library but knew Black would have no trouble finding her there. Not that he'd have any more trouble locating her outside. Still it would be best to be circumspect and avoid the library altogether.

As she thought Remus found her there soon enough, sitting beside her on a bench. They sat a while in silence. 'I'm sorry.' said Remus. 'Sirius and James can be a bit hot-headed'. She snorted.

'Okay, they were total jerks! I admit that!' Remus didn't seem too happy about admitting it.

'It's just that they are good friends and they worry. You see I have a problem they help with and...' He seemed to hesitate and then tried to change the topic all together. 'But as I tried to say earlier...'

Catharina smiled at him and shook her head.

'Remus, I know. And It doesn't bother me. You don't have to lie to me, either. I understand how hard it has to be for you to keep it from most people.'

Lupin stared. He was shocked. She knew. Or she thought she did.

'What are you talking about?' he asked shaken.

Cat observed how tense he got, how his eyes widened and his breathing quickened. He was afraid. Or angry. Or both.

'I know about your "problem"'. She said evenly 'I know it's not a sick relative that keeps you away every month around the fool moon. I know and I don't care. I'm not afraid of werewolves and I'm sure it would be a lot easier for both of us if we got past the point where you try to justify your friends' behaviour using that excuse. They're prats and for that there is no excuse.'

Remus was speechless. First he had to digest the fact that she knew all about his condition and that she seemed not to care about it. About how she wasn't afraid of him. How she wasn't running away, screaming.

And then how she thought he used his lycanthropy as an excuse to overlook his friend's faults. And how true that was.

'You know?' he managed 'How? Since when? How?'

Noticing how agitated Remus was, Catharina decided to calm him down by doing something she rarely did out of her own volition. She edged closer and leaning against a surprised Remus Lupin wrapped her arms around him giving him a quick squeeze. After she hugged him she edged back to her spot on the bench. That left Lupin even more stunned than minutes before.

She gave him a small smile and explained 'I knew there was something different about you for a while but since we started to hang out this year I realized you gave off a sort of ever-present magical hum of sorts. Like a static buzz. It means you have a sort of natural magic that only comes from inheriting very potent magical blood. I was taught that such strong magical vibe comes mostly from magical races such as the Veela, the Centaurs, Vampires, Merfolk or the like. Werewolves too of course. After that it was a simple matter of ascertaining which one of those you were. And vanishing like clockwork every month when the moon is full was a dead giveaway I'm afraid' she smiled apologetically.

Remus couldn't breathe. He was having difficulties with inhaling enough air at regular intervals to allow speech. And she just sat there staring at him hopefully as if he would get mad that she accepted him as he was. Then he remembered a part of her little speech he did not understand. He took a huge lump of air and asked. 'What did you mean that you're not afraid of werewolves? Everybody's afraid of them. And who taught you all those things about magical races?'

She blushed. Remus couldn't help but notice. Even in this state of agitation he saw that slight colouring of her cheeks and thought it cute.

She shuffled about in her seat and looked at him through her lashes.

'Well..., where I come from children of magical parents start their schooling earlier than here in the UK. You come to Hogwarts at eleven and we are taught magic along with writing and reading at seven. And it's a different kind of magic altogether.'

Remus nodded. Even though he didn't know the details he was aware that she came from somewhere in eastern Europe and that the type of magic practised there differed considerably from most European countries. He didn't care much about that though.

'Doesn't explain why you're not afraid of werewolves though' he said, looking at her wearily.

She laughed. Her laugh was light and warm at the same time. She looked at him and patted his arm. 'Oh Remus, you are a dear. But it's a simple matter of knowing the right spells. I know how to defend myself from a werewolf. And frankly, my father had had one of the best personal shield spells there are made for me. So you see even if a werewolf managed to destroy my barrier I still wouldn't be defenceless.'

It was a lot to digest. Remus's head was spinning but at the same time he felt as if Christmas came early this year. Catharina sat by his side, looking at the setting sun and he couldn't help but again notice the weirdest things about her. How the dim light made her hair seem as if on fire, how her eyes seemed even greener that way, how pale her skin was. He had the insane urge to just pull her close and never let go.

'I like you. A lot. Lots more than just as a friend. I know my friends sometimes act like idiots and can make this hard but would you like to go out?' He was speaking very fast. He hoped to let it all out and then brace for rejection. Cat was shocked, he could see. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. She blushed again, too. She looked down, as if to hide her feelings. He waited patiently for her answer. And waited. And then some more. By the time she shyly looked at him from underneath her lashes his palms were sweating.

'I don't know Remus. I'm not sure if I feel the same way you do. I never dated anybody before so I don't know if I'll be any good at it too.'

And she sat there quietly. Remus was sure it was a rejection but then he thought about what she said and felt hope stir in his heart 'does it mean you're willing to give it a go?' he asked in almost a whisper. She glanced at him again and gave him a small nod.

Remus Lupin was stunned. He just sat on the bench speechless and wondered what to do or say next. He was happy. He was also surprised. He wasn't expecting her to say 'yes'. But she did. He had no idea what to do next. So he just sat there stupidly staring at her.

Catharina sat on her side of the bench and looked at the stunned Remus. She had to try hard to suppress her giggles. It wasn't easy. She liked Lupin. She really did. But she wasn't in love with him. Of that she was sure. She however wanted to make him happy. She knew his life couldn't have been easy. He must have trouble opening up to people and even though she noticed how popular he was among the female population of Hogwarts he seemed completely oblivious to it. He rarely talked with girls, almost never with those outside his own house and year.

Having had enough of the bench she wanted to get back to her hideout and study, but seeing Remus's reaction she figured she'd have to stay put for now. Not at all comfortable with the thought she decided to do something that would take him out of his reverie. She leaned in and put her lips on his. Now it was his turn to be surprised at the intimacy. But he recovered sooner than she did the last time. Feeling braver because of her cooperation he put his arms around her and pulled her closer. The kiss didn't last long but didn't have such an abrupt end as the last time.

'I have to go Remus' Cat whispered. He rested his forehead against hers and smiled. It was the prettiest smile she's seen on him so far. Calm, relaxed, confident and happy. Without the lines of perpetual worry on his face Remus was quite the handsome boy and Cat appreciated that. Giving him a small peck on the cheek she got up. Her departure lasted a while longer when Remus decided to hug her goodbye and then give her a good bye kiss.

It was dark when she returned to the dungeons. She walked slowly, enjoying the peace and quiet when a quiet but deep voice murmured in her ear 'congratulations'.

She almost yelped in surprise and whirling around found the menacing figure of Severus Snape looming behind. He sneered at her and said 'let's hope you'll live long enough to enjoy your little boyfriend' he spat the word, 'because when your cousin gets wind of this you'll have more trouble than just Black tearing up your books or stealing your quills'. As he passed her she noticed how he seemed to be in a good mood. The bastard was eavesdropping on her conversation with Remus! How? Was he there the entire time? Did he hear her when she called Remus a werewolf?

She was angry. Really angry. But more than that she was terribly embarrassed to realize he probably saw them kissing.

Why wouldn't she want Snape to see her kissing Remus? Feeling entirely disgusted with herself she made way to her sanctuary to catch a moment of peace.


End file.
